Genre: Horror
Publisher: Shadow Work Publishing
Publication Date: 21st February 2016
Pages: 53
REVIEWED BY NEV:
A copy of Lanmo
was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by the author, Thomas S Flowers, in
exchange for an honest review. This is said review. This book is published by
Shadow Work Publishing.
Thomas S Flowers is an author that, if you haven’t
already picked up his stuff, is a new and fresh face proving that there is
still young blood in this horror writing genre that can compete with the big
boys that have been doing it for years.
Whenever a request comes through to read one of his
books, I am not ashamed to say this, but, most other things get dropped so that
I can pick his stuff up straight away. When Lanmo
was released as a stand-alone story, there was only one thing I could do. Read
it again and give it its own full review. This story really deserves it.
1964 Mississippi. John is a young black man canvassing
for votes in the Delta during the fight for civil rights. He is pulled over by
a local police officer and ends up in a lot more trouble than he would have
hoped for that evening. Not only was he stopped by the local police, they were
also the local branch of the Ku Klux Klan.
They thought they would get away with things. They didn’t
bank on the powers of the good old southern voodoo.
Lanmo is
a story that first made its appearance in the wonderful anthology, The Black Room Manuscripts from the
equally wonderful Sinister Horror Company. It stood out in this anthology
purely and simply for one reason; the superb writing. It is written in such a
way that you cannot help but be caught up in the tension and pressure and the
outright hatred of the times. You can smell the fear. You can smell the hatred.
You can smell the emotion.
It is a story that totally embraces the times without
going overboard. It doesn’t glorify it in any way. It does the complete
opposite in fact. It makes you hate the perpetrators for what they are, vile,
disgusting, ignorant and arrogant people who, quite frankly do not deserve to
walk the earth.
Mixed in with the racism we have the flip side of the
coin. The age old practice of voodoo. Lanmo
clearly demonstrates the belief in the old rituals that was still held strong
by the black population in the deep south even in the 60’s. It is to me the
ultimate type of witchcraft. It honestly gives me the creeps because voodoo,
more than most ancient cultures of supposed evil, is extremely believable to
me. Don’t ask me why. It just is.
In Lanmo,
Thomas S Flowers make it even more believable, if that is even possible. You
get right inside the head of the victim. You get right inside the head of the witch
doctor. It is scary scary stuff that will have your spine tingling. If I can
give you one tip of something you must do while reading this story, it is this;
sit in a seat that is up against the wall when you open it to read. If you do
not, you will be constantly looking over your shoulder!
To summarise: Absolutely loved this story. Very
atmospheric. Gives you a true feeling of the times and the horror of the times.
Makes you feel ashamed in many respects. Very creepy. Thomas S Flowers writing
is genius. With this being a short story, it is perfect to give you a feel of
how he writes and how he can scare the pants off of you!
General rating:
★★★★★ big fat ones!
Horror rating:
★★★★★ big fat scary ones!
If you would like to help support Confessions of a
Reviewer, then please consider using the links below to buy Lanmo or any other books from Thomas. This
not only supports me but also lets me know how many people actually like to buy
books after reading my reviews.
Thanks.
Book Synopsis:
1964 Mississippi. John Turner, a young black man
canvassing for votes in the Delta is pulled over by local police on a rural
dusty road. After carrying out what they believed was their civic duty, the
klansmen believed they'd gotten away with what they did to John. But they
didn’t know the powers residing in those dark Delta woods. And they certainly
didn't bank on southern voodoo.
CONFESSIONS REVIEWS THOMAS S FLOWERS
Thomas is living a rather simple and quite life with his beautiful wife and amazing daughter, just south of Houston, Texas.
And for more about Thomas, visit his site or find him on social media:
Website – Facebook – Twitter – Goodreads – Amazon Page
Website – Facebook – Twitter – Goodreads – Amazon Page
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